11-05-2006, 07:42 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 1,352
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http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/10244110/detail.html
Quote:
Saddam Hussein's death sentence handed down Sunday will now go before an Iraqi appeals panel.
The nine-member panel will then have an unlimited amount of time to review the case.
The ousted dictator was convicted and sentenced Sunday for a series of 1980s killings in a Shiite Muslim town. Also facing death by hanging for the crime are Saddam's half-brother and another top official of his former regime.
Saddam's chief lawyer said the defense team will appeal within 30 days.
If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days.
Bush: Verdict Major Achievement
Meanwhile, President George W. Bush said Sunday that Saddam's conviction was a signature achievement for Iraq's fledgling democracy.
Bush called the verdict "a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law."
"It's a major achievement for Iraq's young democracy and its constitutional government," the president said at the airport before flying to Nebraska and Kansas on a campaign swing for Republican candidates two days before the election.
Saddam was visibly shaken by the verdict, shouting, "God is great" and "death" to Iraq's enemies.
With appeals, it could be months before the sentence is carried out.
Violence Over Verdict Rocks Parts Of Iraq
Baghdad had been under a virtual lockdown in anticipation of the Saddam verdict but there's been trouble anyway.
As soon as the verdict and death sentence were handed down, Saddam supporters in a predominantly Sunni district of Baghdad battled police with machine guns. At least seven mortar shells exploded near a Sunni shrine. About a thousand people in Saddam's hometown, Tikrit, defied a curfew to carry pictures of the city's favorite son through the streets.
Shiites, who were repressed under Saddam's regime, celebrated in the streets of Baghdad, some shouting, "Where are you Saddam? We want to fight you." Followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr handed out candy to children.
The head of a Sunni bloc in Iraq's parliament predicted the verdict will spark even greater bloodshed. He said hundreds of thousands of people could die.
World Reaction To Verdict Mixed, Particularly In Islamic Countries
As Saddam Hussein's death sentence sparked fears of fresh violence in Iraq, a respected Muslim cleric in Thailand said Saddam's hanging "will turn to hell for the Americans."
Islamic leaders warned that the verdict could inflame those who revile the United States, undermining its policy in the volatile Middle East and inspiring terrorists to strike.
The head of the Malaysian-based International Movement for a Just World, said the trial "violated many established norms of international jurisprudence."
Key U.S. allies said Saddam got what he deserved. But some legal experts said Iraqis brutalized by Saddam will only see justice if he's kept alive long enough to answer for other crimes.
Saddam Conviction Welcomed By British Government
The British government has applauded the conviction and death sentence given to Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity in Iraq.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Saddam's regime committed "appalling crimes" and it's right that those responsible face Iraqi justice.
But Amnesty International questioned the fairness of the trial. Amnesty's Middle East director said it's important for Saddam to be held accountable for "massive abuses" during his rule, but doesn't think the trial was fair. And he said, in all cases, including Saddam's, Amnesty opposes the death penalty.
Saddam's Lawyer Asks For Calm In Iraq
Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer said Saddam wants Iraqis to reject the sectarian violence ripping Iraq apart and called instead for unity.
Khalil al-Dulaimi also told The Associated Press that Saddam wants Iraqis to "not take revenge" on U.S. invaders.
Al-Dulaimi said Saddam delivered his message during a meeting in Baghdad Sunday morning, just before the verdict, and asked him to pass it along to Iraqis and the world.
He also quoted Saddam as saying he won't be defeated but that the U.S. would be.
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If they just had bombed the hole he was hiding in, all of this would've been over with and time and money wouldn't have been wasted.
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